Percutaneous surgery is a procedure in which surgical instruments and an endoscope are inserted through a cannula into the body of a patient. A viewing element, typically a small video camera, is part of the endoscope and is connected to a monitor so that the surgeon may view the surgical site.
The cannula is a hollow tube that is inserted through an incision into the body of a patient so that a distal end of the cannula lies adjacent the surgical site. The cannula holds the incision open and serves as a conduit extending between the exterior of the body of the patient and the local area inside the body where the surgery will be performed. The instruments, usually one at a time, and the endoscope are inserted through the cannula. The cannula also allows the instruments and the endoscope to be removed from the body and/or adjusted in the body during the surgery without trauma to the body.
A conventional apparatus for supporting the cannula and the endoscope allows a surgeon to manipulate the surgical instruments without also moving the endoscope. Also, a known support apparatus allows adjustment of the endoscope relative to the cannula for viewing different areas of the surgical site in the body.
While the above described method and apparatus enables many types of surgeries at small surgical sites, the fixing of vertebrae together has heretofore been conducted by a much more invasive open surgical method.